


Paperback Dreams

by theleploner



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-27
Updated: 2017-02-27
Packaged: 2018-09-27 08:57:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9992705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theleploner/pseuds/theleploner
Summary: A dying fire in the fireplace. A book open on her lap. A boy, with his father's hair and mother's eyes, slumped against her in his sleep.Was she reading to him?Morrigan says the Warden left her and Kieran. This is why.





	

He heard music in his dreams, whispers from sleeping gods. It had only been twice in the span of the year, but he knew what it meant. He knew what was happening.

He had a plan.

 

 

The ring Morrigan gave him years ago lay under Kieran's pillow. To the boy it would be a simple present. To Morrigan it would give a clear message.

_Do not follow._

He doubted she would listen. He knew she wouldn't, not if she knew his plan.

He eased out into the main room of their cottage. Morrigan sat on the sofa, fast asleep, a book open on her lap. Kieran was curled up under her arm, snoring softly. A fire was dying slowly in the fire place across from them.

He almost stayed.

Thief like, he slipped out the door and into the night. 

 

* * *

 

Weeks passed and he found himself in Haven. The large Chantry presence unnerved him, although he understood why they were there.

He pulled his hood up, casting shadows over his face, and slipped into the inn.

The warmth was welcome; he hoped it would chase the chill out of his bones. The chatter of Chantry sisters was less welcome. It reminded him of another inn, of the Blight, of Morrigan.

Weariness sitting heavy on his shoulders he trudged towards the inn keep.

A redheaded sister caught his eye; for a moment he thought it was Leliana.

"Dylan?" her voice echoed in his head. He preferred the whispers of sleeping gods to the whispers of old friends. Sleeping gods were less draining.

The inkeep stared at him. He was an old human, with thinning white hair, bushy eyebrows and an overgrown beard.

"One bed," he said. The inkeep raised a bushy eyebrow.

"Will your friend be joining you?" he asked. His voiced seemed judgemental, but Dylan was too tired to care.

"I'm by myself," Dylan said. The inkeep raised an eyebrow even more.

"You sure about that?" he asked.

Dylan didn't know what to expect, so when he spun around he drew a dagger.

"I didn't think we were on terms so bad you felt the need to draw a blade on me," Leliana said. Dylan gave her a small smile and sheepishly tucked his dagger away.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

She gave him a questioning look. "I should be asking you that. I am still part of the Chantry. I'm on a pilgrimage of sorts. What about you? Why are you here? Did you ever succeed in finding _her_?"

_Morrigan_.

Dylan shook his head. "I don't think this is the time to catch up," he said.

Leliana saw the weariness in him then, and let him go with the promise of catching up in the morning.

 

Dylan looked into mirror that morning, examining his face. Everything about him was sharp. His cheekbones, his jaw, his ears, even his nose. His dark hair was damp as he pushed it out of his face. His green eyes used to be sharp, but they had dulled some; as if a fire behind them was dying.

_A dying fire in the fireplace. A book open on her lap. A boy, with his father's hair and mother's eyes, slumped against her in his sleep._

_Was she reading to him?_

He shook his head, chasing those thoughts away.

He'd go back. He'd go back and know if she was.

For now though, he'd go meet Leliana.

 

"Are you going to tell me what you're doing here?" she asked, as Dylan slowly ate some bread and cheese. "Last I hear you're going searching for Morrigan, then you show up in Haven; the last place I expect to see either of you," she sounded impatient, and Dylan felt bad to keep her waiting.

"I think that first there are some things I need to tell you," he said. He paused, taking a drink.

"Then get on with it," Leliana said.

"The night before the attack on Denerim, Morrigan and I did a ritual. See, Wardens, we carry the darkspawn taint. When we kill an archdemon we absorb it's soul and it kills us. If anybody else were to kill the demon it's soul would jump to another darkspawn," he said.

"But… Nobody died," Leliana said. Dylan nodded.

"Exactly. Morrigan offered me the alternative. The ritual. We'd conceive a child who had the taint. They would be young enough to absorb the soul of the archdemon and survive. Everybody lives and everybody wins," Dylan smiled bitterly. "Except part of the condition was that she was to leave with the baby. Turns out, that was why she was there in the first place. She did grow to love me but that only complicated things in the end," he shook his head. "So we had a child. She left as soon as the demon was slayed. Just as she had promised. And I had promised not to follow. The price I paid for my life."

"Dylan…"

Whatever she was going to say, he didn't care.

"I know. But as time went on I felt bad. Angry. I wanted to meet my child. More than that I wanted Morrigan back. So I started looking for her. I went back on my promise. And when I eventually found her, she gave me shit for it," Dylan smiled fondly. "But it didn't matter. She took me to our son. She named him Kieran. I loved his name, and him. He's so beautiful Leliana," he took a deep breath, emotions getting the best of him.

"She left you? She took Kieran?" Leliana sounded angry.

"She was not the one who left," he said. Leliana's eyes went wide, and her mouth opened slightly.

"You left?" she asked. "Why?"

"I stayed. For years. Then one night I had a dream. Sleeping gods, the old gods, the archdemons; they whispered at me. I brushed it off. Then it happened again. My calling began. Early, yes, but it still began. So I ran. I left Morrigan and Kieran…"

_Asleep. In front of a dying fire._

"… in the hopes of finding a cure to the calling," he said.

Leliana was quiet for a moment.

"That doesn't explain why you're here," she said.

"The ashes. I hoped they were still here. That the rumors weren't true," he said.

"They are," she responded. "The urn went missing," Dylan felt his heart drop, but he shrugged.

"All the same," he said. "I don’t think they could cure the taint."

"The Maker smiles sadly on his Grey Wardens."

"Fuck the Maker," he spat. Leliana scowled but let it slide. No religion was yet to bring him comfort.

"Where are you off to next then?" she asked him.

"I heard of someone who was once a Warden but isn't anymore. She was in Orlais. So, I guess I'm off to track her now," he said.

Leliana nodded. "Stay here a while and rest. You're in need of it."

He couldn't argue with that.

 

* * *

 

_Your warden seeks a cure to the calling. He stopped in Haven and now sets off to track a former Orlaisan warden._

_Do not forget about him._

 

The note, scrawled on a scrap of paper was now worn. She turned it over in her fingers once more.

"I think it fit that we move soon," Morrigan said. Kieran looked up from his book.

"What of father?"

"We're moving to be closer to him."

 

* * *

 

 

Morrigan now stood around a wooden table. She hadn't seen Dylan in years, but had a handful of letters from him. Kieran had his own handful.

The Inquisitor looked up. "Grey Wardens," he said. Leliana nodded.

"I knew some. I was friends with one. All gone."

"Even the Hero?" Josephine asked.

Leliana nodded. "The last I heard of him was that he was tracking who I now know to be Fiona."

Morrigan looked at her for a long moment, her gaze was unrelentingly questioning. She knew, but Leliana gave no confirmation.

"He writes Kieran and I, occasionally. I can send him something if you wish to find him," she watched Leliana from the corner of her eye. "Of course he will assume this means I miss him…" she trailed off, and watched Leliana's mouth twitch in a smile.

"Please do," the Inquisitor said.

 

"Leliana, may I have a word," she called as the meeting came to an end. Leliana stopped walking, allowing Morrigan to have her word.

"Thank you. It would've taken me years to find him without your help," she said.

"I have no idea what you mean," Leliana responded.

"Dylan."

"You met him before me," she said. Morrigan rolled her eyes.

"You've always been stubborn," she said.

"And you always loved each other," Leliana replied.

_You're welcome._

 


End file.
